By now, political parties should have realised that popularity alone is a dangerously weak basis for selecting parliamentary candidates. For far too long, our politics has confused loudness with leadership and flamboyance with competence.

We have seen criminals, people hiding behind so-called big family names, godfather protégés, and noisy self-promoters pushed ahead of capable, disciplined, and genuinely knowledgeable individuals. And the nation has paid the price for that misjudgment.

Popularity is not the same as competence. It is not the same as depth, clarity of thought, or the intellectual discipline required to scrutinise legislation and shape national policy. Parliament is not a community durbar, and representation is not a beauty contest. What Ghana needs now more than ever are skilled, informed, and intellectually eloquent candidates who may not dominate social spaces or command instant applause, but who possess the substance and strategic value to push both party and national agendas where it matters most inside the legislative chambers.

Mere community flamboyance adds little to the real development of the constituency or the country. The theatrics that win primaries seldom translate into the capacity to influence policy, negotiate reforms, or defend the public interest with rigour and intelligence.

If Ghana is serious about rising above mediocrity, then political parties must adopt a new compass.

The criteria for the next round of parliamentary candidature must prioritise competence, integrity, subject-matter expertise, and the calm eloquence of people who can actually think, analyse, and legislate.

The era of elevating empty noise above meaningful substance should have expired long ago.